Keepsakes
by CharmedReality
Summary: Yozak has a lot of time to think and a few souvenirs of Conrad's past to inspire a trip down memory lane. Yozak/Conrad, appearances by Dan Hiri and Gisela


**Keepsakes**

Conrad Weller was an asshole.

It was a conclusion Yozak had come to after many, many, many years spent with the man.

The soldier could hide behind his smile and warm, chestnut eyes, and fool some of the people—even some of the ones who should have known better, but Yozak knew the truth.

After all, what kind of a person calls someone into their office for a meeting and then leaves them waiting for twenty minutes without so much as a note or a tray of refreshments?

Yozak had lost all interest in respecting the other man's personal space as he roamed about Conrad's office freely. He decided to entertain himself since he'd been left to his own devices.

The first thing he did was step behind the formidable desk. Conrad treated that hunk of polished wood like some kind of battlement. He was on one side and the rest of the world stayed on the other. Of course, dark haired youths rarely took notice of such boundaries. Not that Conrad would admonish someone he showed such an obvious weakness for.

The spy pulled out the high-backed chair and took a seat—not too plush and not too firm. He tried a drawer, but it resisted his tug. He tried another drawer and again it was locked.

Someone definitely had trust issues.

Only one drawer opened revealing extra quills, ink, and parchment. It was all neatly organized and all completely boring.

He could have picked the locks, but that would be a little too invasive. Then again, if he was still waiting another half hour from now there was a chance it would happen.

Instead, Yozak stood up to inspect the bookcases. Some of Conrad's shelves were solidly lined from one end to the other with books. The topics ranged from books on strategy, history, and politics to fiction and even poetry. Yozak shook his head with amusement as he pulled out a worn edition of Anissina's limericks, jokes, and puns: Volume 3. Clearly, the woman was a danger in more ways than he ever realized.

As he explored further he came to a display shelf littered with mementos. It was just like the brunet to hold on to tangible fodder from his life. After all, Conrad carried the past around inside of him and with every year it seemed to weigh him down a little more.

Light flashed off a shiny, silver object and Yozak picked it up. Conrad wouldn't like someone touching his things, especially these things, but the brunet should have known better. After all, they had known each other for quite some time, and Yozak had never been particularly patient.

On closer inspection, he recognized the object. It was a fishing lure—and not just any fishing lure—it was Conrad's father's.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Dan Hiri Weller was not a man who did anything idly. He worked hard and he played harder—much harder. He had an almost inexhaustible supply of energy and motivation even if it wasn't always focused in the most honest or noble of directions. But he did find time for doing right by the people who could use his help. That's how he ended up traveling for a couple of months with his young son, Conrad, and a little ragamuffin who answered to Yozak.

The redhead hadn't bothered to offer a second name when they found him at that makeshift grave on that barren hillside. With his parents gone it just didn't seem important anymore. He didn't like clinging to unnecessary baggage. Even at that young age he was determined to travel light—keep the good and expel the rest.

The boys got along well enough from the beginning. Yozak mostly stayed quiet and kept to himself when he wasn't offering to help with the minor chores that come along with travel—hunting, cooking, setting up camp, and cleaning up. It was Conrad who went out of his way to make Yozak feel welcome. He didn't often have children his age to play with and when he did, they were usually Mazoku at the castle who only acknowledged him because he was a prince. Besides, it was clear the other half-breed child had a rough life. His father was always helping people, and he wanted to make him proud. So, the little brunet was determined to pull Yozak out of his shell.

Dan Hiri didn't have to waste his breath, telling his son to be tactful or aware of the fact that Yozak had suffered great hardships and loss. Conrad was more in tune with that kind of thing than his boisterous, irreverent father.

It was probably that careful, measured way Conrad had of talking to Yozak that finally made the redhead snap one day when they were working on crafts Dan Hiri had set them up with to keep them occupied.

"Stop it! Just stop it!" He yelled.

Conrad's big brown eyes opened wide in surprise at the uncharacteristic reaction. "Stop what?"

"Stop being nice to me because my Mom… Just stop being so nice all the time! It isn't natural!"

"Well," Conrad began, not sure what to say now. "How do you want me to be?"

"Just be real. Be yourself. You aren't really this nice all the time are you?" How could he be? No one else was—no one else but his parents. Not for a long time anyway.

"But all I said was that you did a good job on your treasure box."

"No, I didn't! The sides are uneven, the latch is all warped so it barely shuts, and it is too small to hold anything useful!" Yozak took his creation and hurled it into the forest as he stomped off in the other direction leaving a stunned little Conrad sitting there staring after him.

It was Dan Hiri who found Yozak down by the banks of the water later. The older man didn't scold him or console him. He didn't mention anything about the box or his outburst or Conrad. In fact, he didn't say anything at all. He just set to work assembling a long stick with some thin twine. He tied a shiny bit to the end that caught in the sunlight and drew Yozak's attention.

The boy found himself scooting closer until he was sitting beside Dan Hiri who turned to him, handing him the contraption. "The trick is in how you cast it. Don't get it caught in any tree limbs or tall reeds. You want to sink it out there in the middle of the stream where the big ones are hiding. You won't get them with a spear or your bare arms," which were, admittedly, the older man's favorite methods of catching fish.

"What is this for?" Yozak asked, pointing to the shining metal at the end of the twine.

"That's the bait. Some big fish out there is going to see it and consider it lunch. When it closes its mouth, we'll haul him in and have our own lunch," Dan Hiri explained.

"Why wouldn't he just open his mouth?" asked the curious boy.

"Oh, he'll try, but it won't be as easy said as done." Dan Hiri moved part of the metal back to reveal a sharp hook hiding within.

They spent the next hour or so trying to lure in the fish. Yozak caught a small one on his first cast which got him eager for more even though the fish seemed more timid after that. He was so focused on the fishing he hadn't noticed when the little brunet sat down next to him. He didn't pay any attention to him at all until there was a sharp tug on the line and Yozak began to fight with the stick, trying to pull the fish to shore without it snapping the line.

The boy's feet dug into the soft earth as he was yanked forward much more forcibly than the fish. He felt arms tighten around his waist as Conrad jumped in to help. The two boys grunted and stepped back in time as they slowly gained ground on their stubborn fish. The next thing they knew they had collapsed into a pile with their defeated meal flopping around on the grass next to them.

Dan Hiri, for his part, just watched with interest before reaching down for their feast. He walked back toward camp, telling the boys to get cleaned up before returning.

It took a moment for it to register to Yozak that he was still tangled up with the other boy, lying in the grass. Moving away, he looked over at him a little shyly. "Um…thanks."

"No problem," Conrad said, forgiving the other boy as if he'd apologized. "We should probably hurry before Dad eats it all."

Embarrassment left Yozak's face as if it had never been there. It was an ill-fitting expression on him after all. "Race you!" He called out as he scrambled to his feet.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Yozak set the lure back where he'd found it and shrugged off the memory of his youth. He couldn't fault Conrad for keeping something of his father's. Even if Yozak preferred to travel light, he knew that wasn't Conrad's way. Besides, Dan Hiri was a good man. Without Dan Hiri, Yozak never would have found the Gurrier family. He never would have lived in the half-breed village where he was accepted unconditionally. And he would never have gone into the service of Shin Makoku.

It was amusing to think about Conrad at that age though. Back then he always seemed so nice. He didn't seem like the kind of person to keep a man waiting.

The redhead turned his attentions to the next item on the shelf. It was a well-worn book. He wondered why it wasn't with the rest of the prince's volumes as he opened it up.

He saw the reason inscribed inside in careful, delicate handwriting.

_Dearest Conrad,_

_You will find a poem on page 52, which reminds me of our conversation from last night. I hope it can provide you with more insights than I was able to do._

_Regards,_

_Julia_

He flipped to page 52 out of curiosity, but the book was in the raised language for the blind. It didn't surprise him to know Conrad could read such things, but he had to resist the urge to roll his eyes.

Conrad would have done anything for that woman despite the fact she was engaged. He would have gone to the ends of the world and back. And, in fact, he did.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Yozak's eyes scanned the healing wing of the castle. There was nary a bed free. In fact there were cots littering the spaces between the regular beds causing the healers to squeeze through the remaining pathways as they visited their patients. He saw many men he had served with at one time or another. Of course they were the Mazoku soldiers. The others—the half-breeds—didn't make it back from Ruttenburg.

There were only two who returned from that battle—the lion of Ruttenburg and the man who carried him home, Yozak. But the redhead didn't see his captain among these men.

It shouldn't have been too surprising. Yozak had been discharged after only a couple of days. Conrad's recovery took longer—mostly because he didn't seem to want to recover, but it had been over two weeks now. Conrad was probably in his room. Shinou knows they could use the space down here.

"Yozak? Is everything okay? Did you reopen a wound?"

He turned toward the voice, which came from a young, green-haired girl. He recognized her as Gunter's adopted daughter and one of the healers who always hung around Julia.

Of course, people circled Julia the way insects circled light. And the consequences were just about the same. If they got too close they were burned.

"Fit as a sand bear," he replied smoothly. "I was just wondering where the captain went."

"He was released this morning with a summons to the shrine," the wearied woman replied helpfully.

"The shrine, eh? I guess I'll just have to catch him later then. They aren't too fond of my kind over there." For once his kind only meant men.

He left the healing wing with thoughts of cheering up his friend tomorrow. Only, he wouldn't find Conrad tomorrow or the next day.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Yozak closed the book again. It seemed Julia's pendant wasn't enough of a keepsake for the brunet. That was just as well since he had just passed it on to the kiddo anyway.

In fact, Conrad had passed a great many things on to Yuuri after Julia's death.

Yozak palmed a strange, yellow, rubber toy that seemed to resemble a bird of some kind. It was soft and pliable, so he gave it a little squeeze and then nearly dropped it when it unexpectedly squeaked at him.

He couldn't be sure what sort of treasure this was or who it related to, but he had his suspicions since it seemed to appear shortly after Conrad reappeared years ago.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Hello."

Yozak didn't bother to look up. He'd heard the rumor and he knew the voice. Conrad had returned after more than a year away.

The man who had left the ranks of soldier for the assignment of spy knew little more than that. He knew the Shinou's will was somehow involved, and he knew that Conrad had left without so much as a request for him to water the plants. Not that there were any plants, but the point was the same. There was no bye, good or otherwise.

"Hi, Captain," Yozak replied succinctly.

"You're out of uniform, soldier."

"I'm wearing work-related clothes of a different kind these days," Yozak returned, eyes still fixed on the food he was pushing around his plate.

"Yes, Gwendal explained some of the changes. I just thought I'd give you a hard time," he replied in a light jest.

"If you want to do something like that, maybe you should just try leaving for a few years after a devastating war." Yozak looked at him pointedly and Conrad was smiling back at him. It was…unnerving. His last memories of Conrad were after the man had received word about Julia's death on the heels of the slaughter of Ruttenburg. At the time it didn't seem like those lips would ever smile again. "I guess you already tried that though."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Yozak returned the toy duck, careful to leave no sign he'd disturbed it. He glanced over some of the other objects, but none of them seemed significant on the surface. They probably belonged to people like Wolfram or maybe even Gwendal or Gunter. And then his eyes passed over a small, wooden box, hiding in the shadows where it couldn't be seen from the other side of Conrad's desk.

The sides were uneven and the latch was rusty and warped in such a way that it prevented it from closing securely. It was too small to hold anything useful. But it was just big enough to capture the memory of a redheaded boy who spent a couple of months with the soldier before he was a soldier.

Yozak was speechless, not that there was anyone to speak with about his discovery. He had never expected to see that little treasure box again.

He opened the lid and saw a folded piece of parchment inside. Inside, it simply said, "finders keepers," in Conrad's neat handwriting.

Still stunned over his finding, he didn't notice that he was no longer alone in the room until he heard the polite clearing of a throat behind him. "Looking for something?" Conrad began before noticing what Yozak was holding. "Ah. I'm surprised you didn't notice that sooner."

The brunet smiled ruefully. "It's only been sitting there for years now. What is it you do for my brother again?"

"He's never asked me to spy on you. Definitely an oversight on his part." Yozak set the treasure box back down. "You left me waiting for a long time, Conrad."

The other man nodded. "I'm sorry about that. His Majesty was having some trouble with…" Conrad was cut off mid-sentence as Yozak fisted his hands in the man's uniform and hauled him closer, pressing their lips together.

It was not an elegant kiss. It was awkward and Conrad's actions were confused and sloppy against him. It ended as abruptly as it had begun.

"A long time, Conrad." Yozak released the tan uniform from his grasp and stepped away.

He was a man who believed in traveling light, but he had that bottled up inside of him for too many years, building and festering. It was time to let it go. And now he could move on.

Except, he couldn't. Literally.

Conrad's hand had firmly caught his wrist, keeping him in place. "I wasn't ready," said the brunet.

Yozak parted his lips, ready to let the other man off the hook when he felt Conrad against him again. And this kiss was much better.

Maybe Conrad Weller wasn't such an asshole after all. But if he kept him waiting again those locks were getting picked.


End file.
